Management at the ABC is poised to announce between 100 and 150 job cuts on Thursday, ahead of a major restructure that will see the national broadcaster refocus on its digital platforms.
Staffers were notified of meetings with management throughout the afternoon on Wednesday, sources told Crikey. The meetings relate to the first of at least three major change proposals across the ABC’s news, content and technology divisions.
The broadcaster’s news division is predicted to be the first cab off the rank on Thursday, with news boss Justin Stevens expected to release finer details shortly after ABC managing director David Anderson announces the changes to staff on Thursday afternoon, sources say.
The announcement, first reported by Guardian Australia, is expected to be followed by change proposals at the ABC’s newly formed content division, and then across the broadcaster’s technology division, sources say. Technology is expected to see the deepest cuts as the ABC primes itself to mount a challenge in the face of its more digitally capable streaming competitors.
Some of the job cuts set to be announced affect roles that have been vacant for some time, and a large swath of those impacted are expected to be redeployed across the organisation, sources say.
The ABC declined to comment.
Rumours of the restructuring announcement sent the ABC’s major Sydney and Melbourne newsrooms into overdrive earlier this week. Several sources employed by the ABC speculated that Thursday’s announcement and any subsequent “blows” were part of a carefully stage-managed communications strategy that is likely to only further fuel resentment for management, following its failure to defend Q+A host Stan Grant in the face of media criticism.
Anderson softened the ground for impending job cuts in an email to staff on the afternoon of May 11, saying management expected “there will be some redundancies”. He said leadership had started speaking with those affected, as the broadcaster prepares to undertake its biggest organisational shakeup since 2017.
The restructure will see the ABC move away from traditional broadcasting technology in favour of a focus on digital platforms. As a result, the ABC will from July 1 dispense with its regional and local division, with regional bureaux to be folded into the broadcaster’s broader news division.
The changes will also see the creation of a new ABC content division, headed by chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor, in a bid to simplify the broadcaster’s commissioning model. That new division will see capital city local radio, “most of the national radio networks” of Radio National, ABC Classic, triple j, and digital audio broadcasting services all at home together under Oliver-Taylor, Anderson told staff in his May email.
Perhaps more revealing, sources say, was the release of the ABC’s five-year plan, published last Friday. In it, the ABC outlined plans to move resources away from AM radio band transmission and TV, to podcast and on-demand programs, delivered through its ABC iview, ABC Listen and ABC News platforms, in an effort to acquire a majority-digital audience by 2028.
“With an extended program of modernisation, we will have retired end-of-life equipment and introduced more efficient digital production technology. ABC production and operations will be more decentralised and environmentally sustainable,” the plan said.
“Our television multi-channels will be repositioned to align more closely to audience preferences. We will have reduced overlaps across and reduced our investment in AM band transmission.”
A spokesperson for the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, which represents media workers, said the union was still in the dark about the exact number of jobs expected to be lost, which was a bad way to start a new relationship between the two organisations, following drawn-out negotiations during March over a new pay deal.
“There is a lot of anguish and anxiety among journalists at the ABC about potential redundancies, but very limited communication,” they said. “They haven’t been forthcoming, they’ve handled this very badly.”
Will the ABC be able to compete in the digital age? What should a new ABC look like? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
The ABC is, and always has been, a national treasure. The neo-liberal attacks on its existence need to be resisted. Some form of guaranteed funding free of political bias is needed.
Perhaps a licence fee could be introduced, a’la the Beeb, so that its budget/funding cannot be cut by antagonised governments of the day?
I think that it was WHITLAM in 1974 who abolished that single strongest guarantee of financial independence.
Interesting idea, although the fee went into consolidated revenue and there was no accounting for the money.
I do remember when the ABC had its own symphony orchestra and traveling performing artists, the first time I saw the play “Equis” performed, was in Tully FNQ in about 1968.
I remember huddling in fear of the dreaded vans with their direction finding antennas for finding the evaders of the BBC tax. Whitlam cut it out because it was so petty and inefficient. It was a hangover from the days when only the rich had TV. By then watching TV was a norm. By including it in general tax everybody paid for it. The real answer is to stop conservative Governments starving it for funds.
Just to be accurate, the BBC radio licence, introduced in 1923, was NOT “…a hangover from the days when only the rich had TV…” as no-one, pace Logie Baird, anywhere in the world had TVs at the time.
By the time Whitlam abolished the fee here, the new-fangled transistor radios were ubiquitous and he regarded collection as futile, as well as an infringement of the democratic right to be informed, 2SMs Good Guys etc being such fonts of reliable information.
Fun fact – currently over half of the women in UK prisons are sentenced for not having the licence, now £159 (approx. A$295).
A significant increase in the numbers of offenders over 75 is expected since the government, as part of its war on decency, abolished the exemption for the elderly.
We already have far too many specific taxes. We are one of the lowest taxed countries eg. Denmark has over 51% taxes and the Danes are very happy and proud to pay their taxes. Danes also have few imports as they manufacture most of their needs. AND they are the happiest people on earth.
Come on Australia. No free lunches. Increase taxes for the rich and no taxes for the poor. Properly fund our national broadcaster and ensure our rural and isolated residents have decent services.
I lived in Norway for some years. Taxes are high, as in Denmark. Paying into the social security system provides a guaranteed gov’t pension of 80% of one’s final salary. Aged care, Child care, education, Health care, are gov’t funded and free to the public.. The well-used taxes are regarded as a contribution toward collective well-being. The neo-liberal nonsense of private profit is disallowed. Some lessons for us??
Podcast, on demand, streaming. What are they talking about? Most places I go I can only get AM, and that, at night, with a 50 foot aerial. At home I’m on the edge of FM reception although I can see the lights of the city. For me, all I’ve ever wanted is reliable good quality. Not quantity. All this new stuff seems to just dilute quality. Making garbage more convenient is a dumb approach. Roll on deafness.
At least I can rely on my tinnitus.
On News tinnitus is preferable to the stupid dum-dum-dum-bing-bing-bong synth that’s played between items, between announcements of coming items, between sentences in items, during sentences and after a summary of preceding items.
I wish I knew what you are talking about
I think that the synthesizer music is supposed to aproximate what used to be live music played before “The News”.
The ABC AM broadcast, out of Townsville, commenced its morning brass band music before the 5am bulletin, reporting the OS news.
Possibly the cacophonous ‘stings’ now unavoidable on NewsRadio?
If the catastrophists are even vaguely correct about postIndustrial collapse, one of the first casualties would be FM (too much power for too little coverage) and DAB, long dead in its cradle along with stereoAM.
This could mean a return to AM for wide coverage in a flat(tish) land, with the background noise of frying bacon, and long wave though the 3ft high valves have not been made for some years and thus threatens the longevity of the iconic Shipping Forecast for storm tossed sailors of the northern seas.
At a pinch, broadcasts on SW & AM can be heard via crystal sets, which don’t even require electricity so anyone with a soldering iron could hear such vital information as the latest sex scandal in Parliament and who’s corrupting whom in the real world.
Iphones and the like might be useful to keep windows/doors open or as sinkers when fishing for the last non mutant eel or yabbie.
On RN i.e. LNL, Saturday & Sunday Extra you can no longer download podcasts and the Listen app cannot be downloaded /or does not work.
Solution if outdoors? Stream from website via mobile phone data maybe fine in cities but suboptimal or even impossible in regions….
Orwellian double speak from the ABC claiming more access while in fact constraining audience reach?
To get better long distance AM radio reception, try looking for a “tuned loop” AM antenna. It’s an outdoor AM antenna that can be tuned to just one radio station, which also amplifies the signal.
I built one for a rello who lived 150ks outside of Adelaide, when it was turned on, the station came in pretty good, off, and you could barely hear the station.
For FM, you can buy external antennas, or find a TV antenna from where Channel 3 or 4 was broadcast, say around Wollongong or Albury.
(Australia was the only country to use the international FM frequencies for TV broadcasting, which is why country TV stations had to move to UHF, to allow FM radio to spread around the country).
I use the ABC News website as my primary news source most mornings, and the standard of English on that is pretty dire. Bringing back basic English would be good. And then beefing up its investigative journalism firepower.
It’s gotten like, OMG like, like now it’s taken a hike like.
There has been some much needed relief for the last fortnight with PK gone from RN Breakfast and replaced by Tavish McTavish, long may his keks stay dry.
I so like get you on this – I know, right???
Yeah, no, yeah….(sub)literally.
Even so consummate a broadcaster as Geraldine Doogue had to be corrected, by a tidal wave of listeners’ texts, last Saturday morning when she introduced the story on the new MICE plague.
At least she didn’t say meece but can that day be far off?
“Compete”? … Against what?
The interminable chasing of ratings as ‘relevance’?
The commodification and commercialisation of news as entertainment, as the national broadcaster – who are they competing against? The likes of Mudroch, Nein and Stokes’ lowest common denominator tabloid Muppet shows – competing for tat sponsorship – somehow equates to relevance?
The idea that news has to ‘entertaining’ – to attract sponsors in a tabloid world – falls flat if it’s not ‘entertaining’; which ABC presenters in their preset patronising “Listen up rubes…..” delivery are entertaining? “Entertained” is being subjected to explanations of events, strained through the opinions of presenters – increasingly, so many of them Mudroch alumnus?
Well said klewso!
As for the irritating digging looking for a click bait that I observe David Sp—s slowly seems to be moderating on the Insiders, although his guest list still looks suspiciously like none of the real insiders will talk to him, or, he owes his Murdoch fiends a few favours.
Could talking pictures be increased in time, as the cartoons are really great and deserve more air time.
To me, Insiders is looking more like Toad Hall – after the weasels, ferrets and stoats moved in and took over…..
How hard would it be to have one of Spivsy’s Mudroch “insider” mates give us the ins and outs of their Limited News Coalition campaign business model strategy – Dave could chip in with some of his recollections?
It is our country after all that they’re screwing over, at Rupert’s pleasure?
And so with the judgement demonstrated by Scott Morrison, the ABC, a publicly funded news service, required by charter to be fair and impartial has seen fit to decide that they don’t need a Political Editor and producer.
As I said, the judgement of Morrison, no one understands how a “News” service can function without a political editor, unless, News Flash!!, unless politics aren’t news!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, we all understand that iview works and we also know, those that travel our wide and remote country, that the ABC radio network does not reach as far as Sky C__P.
I thought the ABC charter required some cover for the entire country!
As one of those who have lived in the Islands that this government has realized might be handy to know, now, after, Howard in his inimitable chip on the shoulder child of pommy immigrants, canned Radio Australia and its broadcasts that reached all the way past Timor Leste and almost to Hawaii.
Yes, David Anderson does look like he has struck a deal with the devil, but for the life of me I can’t see why the ABC can’t recognize that wandering off into the cesspit of social media is going to help Aunty to keep her reputation unsullied.
Could the Labor party just accept that to tell it straight means that Aunty needs a political editor, preferably not one that rolls over for tummy rubs?